ann17022 — Announcement

ESOcast 106: Chile Chill 9 - Lasers Over Paranal

5 May 2017

High up on the mountaintop of Paranal in Chile, ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) has a view of some of the clearest and darkest skies in the world. But even in the Atacama desert, turbulence in the atmosphere still poses a problem for astronomers. Cue a technological stroke of genius: adaptive optics.

This ESOcast takes you on a soaring journey over Paranal and the Atacama desert. It introduces the powerful lasers of the VLT’s cutting-edge 4 Laser Guide Star Facility and explores their crucial role in the operations of the VLT — and in astronomy as a whole.

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